


Mission Proposal (But Now a Dog's Breakfast)

by janonny



Series: Shapeshifters: The Extra Fluffy Edition [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Shapeshifters, Animal Ears, Animal Traits, Cat Tony Stark, Comedy, Consensual Somnophilia, Dog Steve Rogers, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Post-Avengers (2012), Proposals, Smut, just a tiny bit of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-09-26 10:48:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20388472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/janonny/pseuds/janonny
Summary: Steve was the man with a plan. He knew exactly how he wanted to propose to Tony. Now if only the rest of the world would stop trying to mess up said plans. Including Tony.EspeciallyTony.





	1. First Attempt

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lola29](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lola29/gifts), [Yumi_Eleven](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yumi_Eleven/gifts), [QueenE](https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenE/gifts).

> Thank you so much to [Coaster](https://archiveofourown.org/users/coaster), who is brilliant and always has great feedback! Without her help, the second chapter would definitely be woefully lacking and this story might never be posted since I couldn’t put my finger on what was wrong. 
> 
> This story is dedicated to Lola29 and Yumi_Eleven because of your wonderful enthusiasm for my self-indulgent fluffy shifter-verse. And it’s dedicated to QueenE for your inspiring suggestions that makes it into my third chapter. And honestly, for everyone who keeps sending me cute cat and dog gifs/photos! :D
> 
> I don’t believe you need to read the previous stories to understand this one. Just know that there are shifters and proposals. :) I also don’t usually do this but because this ‘verse has shifters and has been mainly fluffy, please be aware that it’ll contain some smut (purely in their human forms). If you want to avoid the smut because you’re only here for the fluff, then when you reach the first “# # # # # # # # # #” in this chapter, skip to the next chapter. You should be good from there.

Steve tugged at his collar, trying not to feel like he was going to vibrate out of his three piece suit any moment now. He had to force his hand not to hold the bouquet of roses too tightly and force his tail to stop trying to tuck between his legs in anxiety.

This was going to be a special moment and he couldn’t let his nerves get the better of him. He inspected the bouquet again, looking over the deep red petals with random streaks of brilliant yellow going through them. The two dozen roses were beautiful, the petals soft and vivid in their half-bloomed state. The florist had called them Abracadabra roses, but Steve privately thought of them as Iron Man roses. While Tony wasn’t the kind of guy who would usually appreciate flowers, he did have a deep and abiding love for any random Avengers-related mundanity that Steve could find.

Steve had to stop himself from patting his inside suit pocket _again_. Today would be the day he finally asked Tony to marry him, and he wasn’t going to spoil the surprise by constantly touching his jacket pocket where the flat box was kept. Tony’s eyes were too sharp to miss something like that.

Well, if Tony ever got here anyway.

Steve looked at his watch. He was waiting on the common floor of the Avengers tower where they agreed they would meet to leave for the date together. Maybe Tony got caught up in tinkering? It wouldn’t be the first time.

Steve called out to J.A.R.V.I.S. in fond exasperation, “J.A.R.V.I.S., where’s Tony? Did he forget about the date?”

“Mister Stark went to his floor approximately one hour ago and asked for a blackout. As my cameras are now turned off on his floor, I cannot comment on his status at the moment,” J.A.R.V.I.S. said, sounding mildly peevish.

That was strange. Why would Tony ask for a blackout, and right before their date too? Feeling a little worried, Steve headed up to Tony’s apartment, which was on the top floor of the Avengers tower. 

Steve’s access got him through Tony’s front door without issue. While he nominally still had his own floor in the tower, he mostly lived in Tony’s apartment now. There was no sign of Tony anywhere in the living room or kitchen, so he went looking, a little wary.

When he entered Tony’s bedroom and finally walked right up to the bed…

…Steve almost had a nosebleed.

His tail shot out straight behind him, ears perked up with intense interest as he looked down at Tony, completely and deeply asleep on the bed...

...and also almost completely naked, except for the lacy lingerie he had on.

Tony was wearing a dark maroon lace bra that cupped his chest perfectly and matching panties that were snug enough that Steve could see the outline of Tony’s soft cock. There were suspenders clipped onto the panties, leading down to thigh high semi-sheer stockings which clung to Tony’s shapely legs and made them looked all the longer.

Tony was also sprawled across the bed, legs akimbo and arms stretched out like he was trying to lay claim to the whole mattress. He was snoring like a chainsaw and drooling a little. His hair and the fur on his ears were mussed, his tail a long relaxed sinuous line beside him.

Steve had never seen anything more beautiful in his life. He knew his cheeks had to be bright red from how hot they felt, because of course he felt more than a little heated at the sight of Tony wearing _lingerie_, lying with his legs spread out like that. It didn’t matter if Tony was hardly in a seductive pose and that he was snoring like he was a human-shaped wood chipper, this was _Tony in lingerie_ and he had dressed up for Steve. He was probably planning to wear his lacy underthings beneath a suit and surprise Steve after their date, but then he had ended up falling asleep instead. It was such a cat thing to do, especially a cat as regularly sleep-deprived as Tony.

The warmth in Steve’s chest, the deep happiness that threatened to make him shiver and have his tail wag right off his butt, could only be attributed to Tony, his Tony, who was sweet, sexy, and utterly ridiculous.

There was some temptation to bend down and kiss Tony awake, to nuzzle at his cheek and breathe in his scent. They could still go on their date if he woke Tony now, but Tony was clearly very tired to have fallen asleep like that and Steve preferred for Tony to be well-rested instead. Touching the precious box in his inner breast pocket regretfully, Steve decided his plans could wait. Maybe if Tony woke up later, they could go out for supper and Steve would have a chance to propose then? For now, he would hide away the slim box again amongst his art supplies.

After he had put the beautiful bouquet of roses on the bedside table, he pulled the blankets over Tony and then stripped off his own clothing so that he could join Tony under the blankets. He told himself that it was because Tony would prefer to have a warm Steve to cuddle up to and that it had nothing to do with how he couldn’t ever resist a slumbering, cosy Tony in bed.

# # # # # # # # # #

Warm… it was warm…and…

God, it felt so good. It felt _amazing_.

Steve blinked slowly awake, confused and realizing that he was intensely, almost painfully aroused. And there was a weight on him, a weight on him and his…

He looked up, confused, even as his hips jerked up haplessly.

“Rise and shine, sleeping beauty,” Tony purred from above him.

Steve stared, mouth open in surprise and arousal. He gasped as Tony rocked his hips, driving down harder on Steve’s hard cock. How…when…

Still dressed in his sexy lingerie, Tony was astride Steve’s hips and riding Steve’s cock for all his worth. He threw his head back, neck arching to reveal a pale throat as he purred throatily. The dark bra stretched across his chest looked so delicate against his muscular torso, it made Steve want to bite at the skin beneath the slender straps and lace. Automatically, Steve’s hands went to Tony’s legs, dragging up the stocking-covered thighs until he hit bare skin. Tony made a deep sound of appreciation and placed his hands over Steve’s, dragging them higher up his thighs until they hit lace panties over moving hips.

“T-Tony,” Steve stuttered, vision transfixed on his big hands laid over Tony’s dark underwear. He moved his fingers until he could feel where Tony had just moved aside the lace panties, moved it aside enough for Steve’s cock to fuck into Tony’s slicked up hole. He could imagine that mischievous smile as Tony had fingered himself, as he had carefully and slowly slicked up Steve’s growing erection. “Oh god, Tony, how did you manage this without waking me up?”

“Very, very carefully. I had to be so patient, even though I just really, really wanted your cock in me. I had to go so slow so you wouldn’t wake up immediately,” Tony said with a faux pout, in an almost chiding tone.

This had been one of the things high up on Steve’s list of kinks that Tony had extracted out of him over time. It had earned him a, ‘My, my, Captain Rogers, who knew,’ from Tony and a salacious grin when Steve had confessed his fantasy of waking up to someone giving him a blowjob or riding his cock.

And here Tony was, delivering in spades. How long did this all take? Did Tony lie there, kitten licking Steve’s soft cock until it hardened, did he toy with Steve’s erection and mouthed at it while Steve was still asleep. How long did Tony rub himself, play with his own hole as he looked on Steve’s sleeping body, as he used Steve’s cock for his own satisfaction without waking Steve up…

Steve felt a surge of arousal at the thought, jerking his hips up with a whimper that caused Tony to gasp and rock back in excitement.

But for all that Steve could barely handle his excitement…he had to know…

“Is this because you fell asleep on our date?” Steve asked, stilling Tony’s moving hips. “Because you know you don’t have to—”

Tony rolled his eyes, bent down low over Steve’s body, and rubbed his bra-covered chest against Steve’s torso, his back a tempting arch, tail swaying in the air. Steve groaned at the change in position, feeling his cock pull tighter as Tony clenched to keep him inside. Staring him straight in the eyes, Tony said, “I’m annoyed I fell asleep before our date, because my plan was to do this tomorrow morning, after our date. But since I messed that up, I’m just bringing the timeline forward instead. Are you really going to complain?”

Steve shook his head in a hurry.

Smiling, a flash of fang visible, Tony murmured, “Good boy.”

Then he bent down and licked Steve’s right nipple, licked and nipped and sucked at both until Steve’s nipples were perky and red from the attention. Steve groaned, hips thrusting up, which caused his cock to slip out due to their position.

Tony sat up with frown. “That’s meant to stay in me,” he complained, moving back and rubbing his round behind clad in rough lace against the length of Steve’s hard erection. The sensation and sight had Steve groaning with delight. 

“I’m sorry, sweetheart. I couldn’t help it, you just felt so good,” Steve said. He rubbed a hand down the front of Tony’s underwear, loving the feel of Tony’s hard arousal in those soft panties, the sight of that golden tail with dark rings stiffening in pleasure. Groping through the underwear, Steve rubbed the lacy waistband against the head of Tony’s leaking cock, earning a ‘mriaaooww’ of excitement from Tony.

But Tony brought a hand down to still Steve’s fondling. “No, bad pup. I’m not ready to come yet.”

Steve’s ears drooped because he loved the sight of Tony coming, loved Tony’s cries of ecstasy.

“Nuh uh, no puppy eyes at me for that,” Tony warned. “You’ll have to wait.”

Then Tony got up, which made Steve whine even though that was embarrassing, but he just couldn’t help it. They were so close and Tony was _leaving_. But Tony didn’t go anywhere; he just turned so that he was still on top of Steve but his back was facing Steve instead. Looking over his shoulder, Tony grinned, all fangs, which made Steve shiver with excitement because he knew where this was going.

Oh, Tony from this angle was a sight to behold. Steve drank in the sight of Tony’s strong shoulders with the dark band of the bra stretching across his elegant back. The skimpy lacy underwear had a V-shaped waistband, allowing for Tony’s tail to rest on top of the underwear comfortably. It had clearly been designed for shifters with tails. Then there was the way the panties cut high on Tony’s backside, revealing his firm, round cheeks.

Holding his tail high and out of the way, Tony reached back and pulled aside his panties, revealing his wet hole for Steve’s hungry gaze. “Hold your cock for me, Steve. Keep it steady; this is a delicate procedure.”

Steve snorted at the silly joke, but he held his cock at the base, pointing it at Tony’s parted cheeks. He saw a bead of precome drip out of his own hard cock, so desperate was he to get back into Tony. From Tony’s smug smile, he hadn’t missed the sight either.

Leaning back, Tony brushed his hole teasingly against the head of Steve’s cock, repeated the gesture until he earned a sharp moan that turned into a whimper from Steve.

“Patience, babe, I’ll make you feel so good soon,” Tony purred and then he pressed backwards until his hole swallowed Steve’s cock up, pressed down until Steve was in Tony, until Tony’s gorgeous bottom was pressed to Steve’s hips.

“You always make me feel good, Tony,” Steve said, hands shifting to Tony’s hips.

Tony gasped, back arching in a way that just pushed out his round backside. “That’s good, because you feel _amazing_ inside me.”

Then Tony was riding Steve, riding him hard and fast. It felt overwheming, all that heat and wetness clenching and dragging over his cock. The wet sound of Steve’s cock fucking into Tony repeatedly was obscene, as was the way Tony’s tail stiffened into a hard curve at the tip every time he jolted down on Steve’s cock, as if it felt particularly good. Steve groaned and thrust upwards, meeting Tony’s undulating hips, hands squeezing the lace covered soft flesh.

“Mmmmrrr, I could do this forever,” Tony breathed, his voice a throaty sigh. He rocked his hips harder, looking back over his shoulder again and giving Steve a heavy-lidded look.

Steve stared at that beautiful back, with strong rippling muscles, and that rounded backside bouncing on his cock, felt the pleasure sucking at his cock, and everything overwhelmed him. He sat up fast and embraced Tony, fucking up with his hips hard and fast in a way that had Tony panting and yowling in his arms. He buried his face in Tony’s neck, breathing him in and sucking on the arched bared flesh there, dragged his hands down until they cupped Tony’s beautiful lace-covered cock.

“I can’t hold on forever,” Steve growled, feeling his impending orgasm surging through his veins and body, the pleasure climbing in a way he knew he couldn’t hold back. “I want you to come on my cock, please, Tony, let me feel you come around me.”

And he squeezed Tony’s cock, rubbed the lace all over Tony’s leaking erection and snapped his hips up over and over again into that wet, hot haven that was Tony’s body.

It was like Tony came apart, his whole body jerking as he writhed on Steve’s cock, yowling as he jerked and thrust back into Steve’s cock, forward into Steve’s hands, and then came and came, wet hot liquid spilling into his panties, soaking them right through. Steve groaned at the feel, rubbed that wetness into Tony’s still-hard cock as Tony squirmed and kept jerking.

Tony’s yowl resolved into a babble of words, “I love you the best, you’re the best, your cock is the best in the world, and it’s mine, mine, mine.”

With those absurd and wonderful words in his ears, Steve came as well, cock pulsing hard and strong into Tony, his hips jerking again through the wet mess he made of Tony’s hole as he let out a short, growling howl. By the time his hips slowed, he could feel wet spunk leaking out of Tony’s hole from around his cock, messing up the lace panties from the back as well.

Tony was squirming in his arms but not to get away. Instead, he was leaning back as hard as he could, rubbing his cheek and neck all over Steve’s face, murmuring, “Mine, mine, mine,” under his breath like he didn’t even realize it.

Steve returned Tony’s ministrations, rubbed his cheek against Tony’s as well and felt like he could burst with joy. He felt the mutual claim sink into him and fill him with so much happiness that he didn’t know how he could contain it. There was something he should be thinking about, something he wanted to do later tonight...something about supper? But he didn’t really want to go out right now or think on anything other than how Tony felt in his arms, their bodies pressed together.

Pausing in his enthusiastic scent-marking, Tony looked back and started chuckling. “Steve, you’re shaking the bed with your tail.”

And then Steve realized that his tail was wagging so hard, it was enough to move the mattress with its furious thumping.

Feeling his cheeks heat, Steve buried his face in Tony’s neck. “I can’t help it, I’m so happy.”

Tony reached back and ruffled Steve’s hair affectionately. “You’re so cute.”

Cute? He was still buried in Tony’s behind and Tony thought he was cute? That just wouldn’t do. Steve thrust up again, his cock still hard because of course it was, still surrounded by Tony’s warm tightness. When that earned him a surprised gasp, Steve licked Tony’s neck and ran his damp hands along Tony’s inner thighs, smoothing down the lace stockings.

“Again?” Steve rumbled out.

Tony’s back arched and he bounced in Steve’s embrace, head tilting sideways for a kiss. Fangs scraped along Steve’s lower lip as Tony murmured into Steve’s mouth, “Always.”


	2. Second Attempt

This time, Steve was determined to get it right. He had decided to stay in, prepare a delicious homecooked meal, and then propose in a more intimate setting. All the necessary food was already stocked up in the pantry, and he had roped J.A.R.V.I.S. into reminding Tony about their dinner date so Tony wouldn’t be so distracted by work that he forgot all about it. 

Naturally, despite all that, his plans were derailed even before the dinner date started, mostly by Tony being...Tony. Steve had been trying to paint as stress-relief, and as a distraction from his nerves over what he was going to do tonight, when Tony wandered into the art room that late afternoon.

“Hello, Pupmerica,” Tony said, brushing his side against Steve’s as he took a circuitous route through the room so that he wound up walking behind Steve. He paused to admire the oil painting, which depicted the silhouette of the Avengers tower against the rising sun. “I like the mini us on the roof.”

He was clearly referring to the little figures of the Avengers in their shifted forms on the roof. 

“Really?” Steve asked, eyebrows raised skeptically. It had seemed rather on the nose, yet he had felt compelled to add them in anyway.

“Really,” Tony said firmly. “They complete the picture.”

Then, he meandered to the cushioned bench beside the bay window, brushing a hand along the wall on his way there. Without another word, he stretched out luxuriantly on the cushioned bench and closed his eyes, obviously enjoying the warm sunlight pouring down on him through the wide windows. 

“Feeling tired?” Steve asked, a little worried. After all, he didn’t want to force Tony to go through with tonight’s dinner date if Tony was actually exhausted.

Tony shook his head, never opening his eyes. “I just felt like getting some sunlight.”

He curled onto his side, his back to the sun and even from this distance, Steve could hear his quiet, steady purring. The sound drew Steve’s attention like no other could, his ears pricked in Tony’s direction like a compass pointing north. With sudden lackluster, Steve daubed a little paint on the canvas with his brush, adding unnecessary strokes to the outline of the tower.

The truth was that Steve’s painting, which was more than adequate to help pass the time just a minute ago, couldn’t hold his attention anymore.

After a bit of listless painting, and when he was on the verge of ruining his work altogether, Steve decided it was time to call it quits. 

He put down his brush and palette before walking over to the bench, not even trying to pretend that he could stay away from a purring Tony for more than five minutes. Kneeling down in front of the bench, he placed one arm on the surface in the little space remaining between Tony’s chest and the edge of the bench. Without saying a word, Steve pillowed the side of his head on his arm, feeling his ears brush against Tony’s T-shirt.

Almost immediately, he felt Tony shift, curling in closer until hot breath stirred the pale fur on Steve’s ears. A raspy tongue dragged down over the side of his ear, and he felt warmth bloom in his stomach as Tony groomed his ears. 

Tony licked and groomed, and patted fur down with his hands too when the urge came upon him. For reasons Steve couldn’t decipher, Tony would sometimes gnaw a little on his floppy pale ear instead, little fangs chewing harmlessly on his fur and flesh before the grooming continued. When Tony tugged his head to the side, Steve obligingly offered his other ear for grooming. Tony sniffed along the ear before starting his little licks again. 

Steve floated in a state of bliss, feeling Tony care and groom him slowly and with care. It wasn’t often that Tony groomed anyone, so when he did, it was a moment to cherish. Steve knew his tail was setting up a steady happy drumbeat against the floor with all its wagging, but he just didn’t care. He had fallen into a dreamy haze while he was being groomed. 

After what felt like too short a time, he blinked into awareness at Tony murmuring his name. 

“I better get back to the workshop,” Tony said quietly into his ear, before kissing the tip of it. He pressed a lingering kiss to Steve’s cheek, then got up in a slow, indulgent stretch. Reaching a hand down, he helped Steve stumble to his feet. When Steve sank down on the bench, blinking up at Tony, it earned him a smile and another kiss to his ear before Tony sauntered out of the room. 

Steve watched the sway of Tony’s tail right until the tip vanished around the doorframe. Sighing, Steve touched his ears with a dopey smile, feeling entirely satisfied and indulged after that long grooming session. 

Until he looked at the time. 

“Damnit,” Steve swore, eyes wide as he realized that Tony had been grooming him for over _two hours_. 

Okay, maybe Steve and Tony had taken a nap somewhere in there as well, but still, that hadn’t been part of the plan! He still needed to go out and collect the Iron Man roses he had made a booking for, before he had to come back to make dinner. It was already past six, so he was running very late. 

The other option was that he skipped the Iron Man roses to ensure he had time to cook dinner. But...he didn’t want to. He really wanted the roses, to see Tony’s little pleased smile when he saw the Iron Man colors on the flowers. And it was _romantic_. Steve wanted this proposal to be perfect. 

Determined, Steve rushed to the garage level of the tower. If he drove one of Tony’s faster cars and maybe broke a few speed limits, he was sure he would make it. He was Captain America, and he had executed much more difficult missions than this. 

# # # # # # # # #

Apparently, there was no harder mission than Steve’s attempt to propose to one Tony Stark. 

Steve literally walked past a bank just as its security alarms pierced the evening air. Customers fled the bank screaming, some shouting about a robber. There was a part of Steve that really, _really_ wanted to just keep going and leave this to the cops. 

Steve sighed. He knew he had to do the right thing.

Running into the bank, Steve discovered that the supervillain Trapster had decided to…well, use paste to stick three security guards to the floor while he melted the locks on the bank vault using a special solvent. Tony had told Steve that Trapster used to call himself Paste-Pot Pete, but Steve wasn’t convinced that hadn’t been Tony’s attempt to troll him. But the Trapster’s calling card of pasting people onto other things to trap them was starting to convince him otherwise…

The Trapster was such a small time villain that Steve didn’t need his shield to defeat him. In less than half an hour, Steve had the Trapster subdued and trussed up on the ground, waiting for the cops to arrive. Most of that time was spent ensuring the security guards hadn’t been hurt and listening to the standard supervillain monologue. 

The Trapster had seemed pretty affronted when Steve had interrupted him and asked, “Could you skip to the end of the speech? I’m in a rush.” 

Unfortunately, even with a shortened monologue, the journalists were already swarming the place by the time he came out looking for the authorities to handover the Trapster. He had to give a sound bite to all the waving microphones and cameras as well as try to keep the gathering crowd calm. Once the cops arrived, he had to follow them to the station to give a statement. He couldn’t exactly tell them that, ‘no, sir, I can’t follow you to the station, because I have important Captain America business to do, such as proposing to Iron Man.’ He was very tempted, but he couldn’t do it.

So with drooped ears and a limp tail, he had done his duty. Maybe the cops felt unnerved by such a sad Captain America, because they ushered him out of the station faster than these sort of proceedings usually took.

It still meant that he was two hours late for their dinner date, and it was long past dinner time. Tony was probably holed up in his workshop, waiting for Steve to get back for their late dinner, so they could technically still have their date. Regardless, Steve wasn’t going to propose now when the timing was all off. It would have to wait again. Steve sighed.

When Steve stepped into the bedroom to change into less dirty clothing, he discovered that Tony wasn’t holed up in the workshop waiting for him to get home. Tony must have changed and fallen asleep on the bed while waiting for Steve to get back.

And Tony had a surprise for Steve again.

This time, it was an outfit reminiscent of the USO girls: A tiny blue top and a red and white striped skirt that would show off Tony’s legs amazingly…if he had still been in his human form.

Right now, Tony was in his snoozing black-footed cat form. He must have fallen asleep and shifted in his sleep before he had even gotten into the USO uniform, because otherwise, the clothing would have been gone with his shift like they usually do. Instead, his sleek golden form was curled up on the blue top and the striped skirt in the middle of the bed, like he had rolled over until he cuddled up on top of the clothing. 

Pressing a hand to his mouth, Steve had to stifle a laugh. Okay, this was adorable and so very silly. How did this keep happening to Steve _and_ Tony? Steve’s plans to propose kept being disrupted while Tony kept falling asleep while he was trying something sexy for Steve.

The little cat on top of the USO girls’ outfit was adorable and ridiculous, but really not sexy.

Shaking his head, Steve went to take a shower before changing into his pyjamas and crawling into bed with Tony again after turning off all the lights in the room. 

He closed his eyes for a few minutes, listening to Tony’s little cat snores. Wanting to feel closer to Tony, he inhaled deeply and willed the shift to come over him. The world around him contracted and expanded in a fraction of a second, scent and sound washing over him before he could release his breath. Suddenly, he could hear more clearly the background sound of the electronics in the room, even the quiet whirr of the air conditioner. Their combined scents from the bed flooded his lungs and he had to force his tail not to wag in happiness so as not to wake Tony. By the time he opened his eyes, he was lying on his side in his massive dog form. 

His night vision was good in his human form, but as a dog, he had even better sight in the dark room. What was hard to make out earlier in the deeper shadows came into clearer relief. But the color in the room had also washed out into grays, yellow, and blue. When he looked at Tony slumbering in his cat form on the USO outfit, the rich gold of Tony’s fur took on a yellow hue, and the previously brilliant costume was desaturated to shades of blues and grays. 

_Tony was such a ridiculous cat,_ Steve thought to himself with fondness as he gazed at Tony’s little form, lying inelegantly on the absurd USO costume. 

Sighing softly, Steve shifted onto his front and lay his head on his large paws. He inched ever so slowly closer until he was also lying on the USO outfit and curled up carefully around Tony’s small form. Gently, he buried his nose in Tony’s plush fur and breathed in, the scent of heated metal and rich earthiness felt like a blanket of contentment pulled over him. 

Finally, Steve drifted off to sleep. 

He woke hazily at some point, never opening his eyes but huffing when he felt a little cat’s face rubbing against his cheek. It wasn’t unusual for Tony to mark Steve even in his sleep. Steve let sweet slumber to draw him back in. 

The next time, he had a vague impression of someone gently scritching at that spot where his ears met his head, and the quiet whisper, “Go back to sleep, Blue Eyes. You’ll get belly rubs in the morning.”

Steve’s tail thumped once in pleasure and he didn’t fight the siren call of dreams where the team tussled and chased each other in a sunlit field. 

The rise of the sun pulled Steve from his comfortable sleep, his body clock aligned closely with dawn. But there was something missing from his usual morning wake-ups.

He blinked slowly, noting that he was still in his dog form. But squinting across the bed, he realized that he was alone. 

Now that was a sad state to be in. 

Their mixed scents were still strong against the sheets, so Tony couldn’t have left that long ago. Slowly getting up, Steve stretched his front legs in front of him, the front of his body bending low as he felt the deep satisfaction of slightly stiff muscles pulling taut and then relaxing. 

Then he sat on his haunches. He yawned, muzzle stretching open with teeth bared and eyes closed. By the time the yawn finished and his eyes opened again, he was back in his human form, sitting cross legged on the bed. He moved forward so he was sitting with his legs hanging over the side of the bed, ready to get up to look for Tony.

Where to start?

Before he could even move, there was a voice from the doorway to the ensuite bathroom. 

“Oh good, you’re awake. Maybe you can tell me why my plans to seduce you keep failing,” Tony said with a distinct flavor of grumpiness. 

“You don’t have to seduce me, Tony. I’m a sure thing…” Steve said with a smile, trailing off when he looked up and got a good look at Tony.

He had forgotten about the USO outfit and how he had found Tony last night. Tony must have woken up, shifted back to human form and put on the USO outfit after all because he was that kind of stubborn cat. Steve wondered how Tony had managed to pull the USO outfit out from under the two of them while Steve was still sleeping on it. Actually, how did Tony undress Steve the other night without even waking him up too? That had to be some kind of secret superpower.

Regardless of how Tony executed it, there he stood like a pin-up girl, leaning against the door frame, hand on one cocked hip. He might have no feminine curves but it was all the more intriguing this way. The blue halter-top emphasized the broadness of Tony’s shoulders in contrast to his lean waist, the deep V of the collar revealing sharp collarbones and the tantalizing dip between his pectorals. And that short red and white skirt drew Steve’s gaze haplessly to Tony’s shapely thighs and long legs.

Tony grinned, all fangs, when he noticed Steve’s eyes trailing over his body. Prowling forward until he reached the bed, Tony came to a stop between Steve’s legs. That tempting golden tail swished around Tony’s thighs, snaking out from under the skirt and drawing Steve’s attention to where the skirt fell midway down Tony’s thighs. 

“The first time, I was trying to be punctual for our date, and I ended up being so early that I thought I could take a nap before the date. This time, I left just the right amount of time but you were late instead,” Tony said with a disapproving frown.

Steve curled a hand over Tony’s skirt-covered hip and drew him closer, rubbing a thumb against the jut of his hip bone. “You know I was fighting the Trapster. I couldn’t help being late. Why did you go to sleep on top of the uniform?”

“You can call him Paste-Pot Pete, he gets hilariously annoyed when anyone does even though he called himself that first. And I was bored of waiting and it wasn’t very comfortable, so I took it off for a cat nap,” Tony said with a shrug, dragging his hand along Steve’s pyjama-covered abs idly. “I didn’t expect you to be so late.”

“You’ll have to take that up with the Trapster and the police force. I had to give a statement,” Steve sighed with pleasure as Tony leaned down and nipped at the edge of his jaw. Tilting his head back, Steve let Tony nip and lick down his jawline.

“I’ll send them a sternly worded letter,” Tony murmured against his skin, before leaning in to give Steve a deep, wet kiss, parting with a gentle nip to his lower lip. “Now, you have to make up for being late.”

And oh, Steve knew he had other plans and maybe it could have still been salvaged. Maybe he could have coaxed Tony out for an early morning jaunt, taken advantage of Tony’s unusual wakefulness early this morning for a romantic breakfast picnic in the park that ended in a proposal under the beautiful morning sky. But Tony was here in front of him, wearing a USO outfit, after having just fallen asleep as a cat on said USO outfit... 

It was too ridiculous to proceed as planned. There had to be a better moment than this, he was sure of it. The relationship he had with Tony deserved to be highlighted with the best, most memorable proposal, and Steve wasn’t going to rush it now. 

Not to mention that it was very hard to focus on anything else when he was so cognizant of Tony’s tempting dark gaze and the way his ringed tail kept swishing under that short skirt. It was probably a good idea to park the idea of the proposal today, Steve decided with no small amount of distraction. 

“I’m sure I’ll think of a way to make it up to you,” Steve replied, and kissed Tony again, relishing in the purr he could feel starting up from deep in Tony’s chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Firstly, these first two chapters might sound familiar to some, and that’s because they were inspired by [the hilarious and adorable fanart over here](https://twitter.com/Capt_Avenger/status/899286038463500289).
> 
> Secondly, thank you to [willidothefandango](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nagth/) for the awesome suggestion of Paste-Pot Pete as a B-grade (possibly lower?) villain! Exactly what I needed for this story!


	3. Third...Attempt?

Some days, Tony was really annoyed that he didn’t know how to cook, couldn’t make with his own hands something for Steve to eat and appreciate. On those days, he took Steve out and spoiled him.

Tony wasn’t that keen on fine dining, and Steve was even less interested. But Tony did have quite the fondness for well-made sushi and he wanted to share it with Steve. So he had brought Steve to Kisume, an authentic omakase where diners left everything up to the chef to decide what to serve. This little out-of-the-way Japanese restaurant was cosy and not especially well furbished. It was by no means cheap, but most of the high rollers didn’t actually know about Kisume. The place was mostly frequented by foodies and die-hard sashimi fans ready to sit shoulder-to-shoulder at the counter that only had space for 12 and leave their dinner up to the chef.

Chef Mizoguchi had made many meals for Tony and turned down all his offers to work for him as his personal chef, or to open a bigger restaurant, or to open another branch right in the Avengers tower’s foyer. Every time Tony asked, Chef Mizoguchi would just blink at him and asked, “Do you not get enough food? Take some nigiri back with you.”

So Tony was pretty excited to bring Steve here, ready for Steve to be wowed by the whole experience. Usually, Steve would balk at eating anywhere too fancy, but Kisume charged heftily for fresh and perfectly prepared ingredients without actually looking like it was part of the fine dining experience. A dozen people sat along the counter, and behind that, Chef Mizoguchi sliced with a hypnotic grace as he talked and laughed with his customers. It was intimate and comfortable.

But not for long.

The dinner started alright, with Steve sitting pressed up against Tony, positioned right in front of the chef. The others in the restaurant were strangers, because Chef Mizoguchi would never allow Tony to book out the whole place, but no one treated them like celebrities to be gawked at. Everyone had their own private conversations, with the occasional casual chit-chat with newly met strangers and a few words with the chef. 

Steve had seemed oddly nervous earlier, saying that he had prepared dessert at home so they should head back immediately after dinner. He also kept reaching out to touch something in his jacket, before aborting the movement. Tony wondered if Steve was uncomfortable in his jacket or was worried about dropping something from his pocket. It was a little strange to see Steve behave like a jittery puppy on a first date. 

Tony would have asked him about his odd behavior, but the dinner setting was unique enough that it finally drew Steve’s attention from whatever he was worrying over. Steve was curious about the new dining experience, and it showed in the way his distraction faded, and instead, his ears perked up and his tail wagged slowly as he looked around. It was enough to make Tony let go of Steve’s earlier nervousness, assumed that was the last he saw of it and was ready to get down to the serious business of delicious food. 

Tony was already preening at the success this date was going to be.

But Tony’s mood started to sour even before the eating begun.

“Smell the wasabi, no, come closer and really breathe it in,” Chef Mizoguchi said to Steve, holding out the ground wasabi.

Did Chef Mizoguchi really need Steve to bend that close to him to sniff the wasabi, half standing from his stool? Chef Mizoguchi was a dog shifter as well, and he should know that Steve had a sharp enough sense of smell to be able to pick up the scent from all the way across the room. In fact, Steve had to pull back and turn around to sneeze away from everyone, but that only elicited a laugh from both Chef Mizoguchi _and_ Steve.

Then, Chef Mizoguchi was holding up the board where he had ground the wasabi. “We grind this on real shark’s skin. Here, feel it.” The chef held the board out, encouraging Steve to touch the board.

Tony eyed how Steve was caressing the chef’s board and did not feel the least bit happy about this. Never mind that he had done the same things when he first came here, the way Chef Mizoguchi was talking to Steve was clearly different.

Even the briny oyster in ponzu sauce with char-grilled garfish wasn’t enough to lift Tony’s spirits. Watching Steve try the freshly shelled scampi nigiri and delight over it was adorable, but he really didn’t like how Chef Mizoguchi was paying so much attention to Steve.

“Your other guests are going to feel left out,” Tony said pointedly at Chef Mizoguchi.

“Oh, we’re fine,” the lady beside Tony said.

“They’ve been here many times,” Chef Mizoguchi said, rolling his eyes at Tony. “Like you, they’re frequent guests. Only your friend here is new.”

Steve’s cheeks were a little flushed as he eyed the seared kingfish belly with interest. “Thank you for your guidance, Chef Mizoguchi.”

“It’s my pleasure, Steve,” Chef Mizoguchi said in much too familiar a tone, his whip-like tail wagging and his folded ears cocked in satisfaction.

Tony wanted to hiss at the chef and tell him not to use Steve’s first name, except Steve had told Chef Mizoguchi to do just that.

The dinner continued in that same vein, like a slow delicious degustation custom-tailored to drive Tony crazy as he watched Chef Mizoguchi prepare sashimi and feed Steve while Steve ate up all the food and attention. Chef Mizoguchi’s knife danced over all kinds of seafood while explaining fish-ageing techniques and what he used for a specific marinate. He checked in with Steve regularly, making nigiri with just the perfect amount of wasabi for Steve’s tastebuds, and teased and joked with Steve to keep him comfortable. Whatever had Steve so anxious and fidgety earlier was all gone now, as Steve chatted easily with Chef Mizoguchi. 

Tony tried to join in, kept up a light stream of conversation with Steve as well. As far as he could tell, no one noticed his growing dark mood, which he kept firmly internal. He didn’t want to ruin this dinner for Steve, and okay, the food was too delicious not to enjoy on some level. But Chef Mizoguchi really did _not_ need to be fawning over Steve like that. Steve was for Tony to fawn over. Bad enough that Tony couldn’t cook, now Chef Mizoguchi was proving to Steve what a better provider he was as a world class chef.

On some level, Tony knew he was being ridiculous. But he didn’t care. Chef Mizoguchi should stop being such a shameless flirt while demonstrating his superior cooking skills!

Chef Mizoguchi sliced up some seaweed for his sea urchin nigiri. “I think you’ll like this. You have to eat it immediately, and I want to hear the crunch of the crispy seaweed when you do.”

Steve obediently bolted down the nigiri, letting Chef Mizoguchi put his floppy dark ear near Steve’s mouth to hear the crunch. Oh, come on! As if the chef’s dog senses couldn’t have picked up that crunching from across the room. But Steve and Chef Mizoguchi were both beaming at each other over it, and so Tony only asked, a little pointedly, “Don’t you want to hear my crunch too?”

“I hear that all the time,” Chef Mizoguchi said with an airy wave, and Tony’s tail lashed behind him as he ate his stupidly delicious sea urchin nigiri with a slight pout.

Steve tipped his ear near Tony’s mouth and said, “I want to hear it.”

He smiled when Tony smiled back, fangs tucked away because his mouth was full. With Steve’s attention on him, Tony was better able to enjoy the cold sea urchin against the warm rice, the sharp wasabi with the crunchy seaweed.

“Did you like yours?” Tony asked Steve, because he wanted Steve to be _happy_.

“I love it,” Steve said, his tail wagging in earnest delight. “Thank you for bringing me here.”

Tony shot a smug look at Chef Mizoguchi, but mysteriously, the chef only looked amused.

Steve was very proficient with his chopsticks, so it was utterly unnecessary for Chef Mizoguchi to put a hand on Steve’s fingers and pushed them down when he was reaching for the next nigiri. “Try to eat with your fingers instead. Use your thumb and middle finger like this, just lift it up,” Chef Mizoguchi suggested as he demonstrated with a nigiri on his own board.

Steve smiled. “You should eat that, join us.”

“Well, I can’t say no to Captain America,” Chef Mizoguchi said, popping the whole nigiri into his mouth with a grin.

Tony savored his saltwater eel in sticky soy glaze angrily. What a hussy.

Finally, it was time for the last dish. It couldn’t have come sooner.

“They used to say you can judge a restaurant by how well they make their eggs. Nice? Almost creamy, isn’t it?”

_Creamy?_ That was it!

Tony draped an arm over Steve’s shoulders and said rather loudly, “Thank you for the delicious meal, Chef. I’m sure my fiancé really enjoyed it.”

Steve’s sake cup clattered to the table, and thankfully it was mostly empty, so there was little spillage.

“Fiancé?” Steve asked in a shocked voice.

In fact, the exclamation was echoed by a few surprised whispers from the other patrons at the counter.

“Oh… We hadn’t told everyone else yet,” Tony said, eyes wide. Oops, this was a fuck up. Wait, why hadn’t they told anyone else yet…

“Excuse me, Chef,” Steve said and hooked an elbow around Tony’s arm, unceremoniously pulling him up from his seat and towing him to the bathroom.

Thankfully, the bathroom was empty, one of the advantages of coming to a tiny restaurant like this. And Steve stood in front of the door, his chest heaving and cheeks flushed like he had run a marathon.

“Tony, what was that out there? What— What do you— _Fiancé_?” Steve demanded in incoherent stops and starts.

Tony crossed his arms, tail swishing behind him in agitation. “I just wanted to make it clear to Chef Mizoguchi, that incorrigible flirt, that you’re my fiancé. I know we haven’t discussed announcing it yet, but it’s not that big a deal, is it?”

“Announcing? Wait, Chef Mizoguchi? He’s old enough to be my father!” Steve exclaimed, looking utterly aghast with the pale fur on his ears and tail standing on ends now.

“So? You don’t know him like I do. Don’t fall for his harmless grandpa act, he’s a total playboy and he’s got a thing for busty blondes,” Tony shot back in a hiss.

“Busty—” Steve’s cheeks were completely flushed, but then he shook his head and said firmly, “No, I’m not letting you distract me. That’s not the point.”

Tony frowned. “Distract you from what? The whole point was that shameless flirting. I can’t believe he was so blatant right in front of—”

“The point is that you called me your fiancé!”

Blinking, Tony tilted his head. “Yes? And?”

Steve gaped at him, and then his tail drooped. “Was this all just a joke to you? Is it so impossible that we could be engaged that it’s just some kind of punchline?” And now, Steve’s ears were all droopy and his eyes were so downcast and sad, and Tony couldn’t stand it.

Tony immediately pressed himself up against Steve, arms looping around Steve’s neck. He rubbed his cheek against the side of that sad pale face, squeezing Steve tight like he could squeeze out his misery. “No, Steve, no, I don’t know what you’re talking about, but this isn’t a joke. What are you talking about? What does this have to do with our engagement?”

Shifting Tony back by the elbows, which was not an easy task when Tony was so keen to cling on, Steve looked Tony in the eyes with a deep furrow on his brow. “Tony, we aren’t engaged.”

“Yes, we are, what are you talking about? Why would you—” Tony’s rising hurt was suddenly cut off as he properly processed Steve’s matter of fact statement. 

Because Steve would never joke about something like that.

And…and… Tony was forgetting something.

He was forgetting…that he hadn’t proposed to Steve yet.

“Oh,” Tony said, ears flattening back in utter dismay. “Oh, no! I was supposed to propose to you in that USO outfit but then I fell asleep, and then we had smoking hot sex when we woke up, and that messed up my plans, and _I forgot to propose to you_.”

Steve stared at him, lips parted and eyes wide.

“Oh my god, I forgot to propose to you. I can’t believe I forgot,” Tony said, mashing his face forward into Steve’s shoulder and squeezing his eyes shut against the shame and embarrassment. “I ruined it all, oh no. I totally, I can’t believe… I thought it already happened. And now you’re finding out about it in a flirty old man’s omakase’s bathroom!”

He felt Steve trembling beneath his face and he pulled back in heartbreaking horror. Steve had his face buried in one hand, his whole body shaking, and Tony wanted to cry at the sight. He cupped Steve’s cheek, pulling him up to face Tony again.

“I’m so sorry, Steve, I ruined it. I’ll make it up to you, I’m sorry—” Then Tony cut himself off because…because Steve wasn’t crying.

He was laughing.

He was laughing hard enough that there were obvious tears on his lashes, his cheeks flushed with mirth. His ears were even quivering with his amusement.

“Hey, stop laughing, this isn’t funny,” Tony demanded, his tail lashing behind him.

Steve shook his head, opening eyes that were bright with laughter. “It’s very, very funny, Tony. I can’t believe… You were going to propose to me wearing that USO outfit?”

Sticking his lower lip out, Tony folded his arms and took a step back from Steve. “Yeah? You like me in your colors and wearing your symbol. You love it when I wear that Captain America’s shield T-shirt, you’ve said that before. So I thought I had to make it extra special for a proposal. And I look _hot_ in that USO outfit.”

“You do, you really do,” Steve said as he stepped up to hold Tony’s elbows. “But for a proposal? And you actually forgot to propose but assumed we were already engaged? That I already said yes? And you announced it to everyone outside; it’s probably all over the internet by now! Because you were jealous of a man old enough to be my father.”

“I mean, we don’t have to— I know I didn’t ask, and you didn’t say yes, so we don’t have to go ahead with it. We can, we can just say it was a joke. Or whatever,” Tony said, trying to pull out of Steve’s hold, his ears still pinned back flat to his skull and his tail stiff with unhappiness, fur puffed up with how much he wanted to fight or flee.

He felt his heart sink when Steve let go of his arms and took a step back, because maybe this was Steve’s limit, finding out that Tony was the kind of cat who would forget to propose and announce to the world that they were engaged. 

“Oh Tony, you’re the strangest, most ridiculous person I’ve ever met in my life,” Steve said, and then for some reason, Steve was sinking to one knee, right there in the middle of the dimly-lit bathroom. “I’ve tried to propose to you twice now, but you’re like...like a chaotic hurricane.” At that, Steve let out a little laugh, shaking his head. “You sweep all my plans aside. Today, I wanted to propose to you after dinner, back at the tower, with a bottle of champagne and tiramisu ready for a celebration if you said ‘yes’. Except here I am on the bathroom floor of a Japanese restaurant, asking you the most important question of my life.”

He was holding out a flat box slightly smaller than his palm. When he opened it, Tony’s felt his pulse leap and speed up, his breath escaping in a small gasp. There was a simple brown leather cord looped twice over and lying on a dark red velvet cushion. On the cord, there were Steve’s dog tags, burnished metal a dull gleam in the low light. Tony’s hand was shaking a little as he reached out to the leather cord, not touching it yet. He knew this type of leather, saw it everywhere. They were called scentbands and were usually for mated pairs, with the leather made to easily soak in their shared scents. He could already smell Steve’s scent on the leather, knew this was asking officially for Tony to wear his scent for good. Along with the dog tags, it was a declaration, an agreement to be marked and to carry Steve’s keepsake.

The cord and the dog tags were more than enough to make Steve’s intentions clear, but they weren’t the only items in the box. Nestled in the middle of the loops of leather cord, there was a gleaming ring, gold and silver entwined together in a simple weave, with a gleaming ruby and sapphire ensconced snugly together in the middle.

Steve’s lips were trembling, maybe from laughter, maybe from some other more tender emotion, and his eyes were wide and a little wet. “I’ve been carrying this around with me, trying to find the best time to propose, but it was never good enough. I’ve just realized that there’s no better time than right here, right now, because any time anywhere you’re together with me makes it the best moment.” He drew in a deep breath, smile tremulous. “Tony, I’ve never been happier than when I’m by your side, even when you drive me completely crazy. Would you do me the honor of marrying me and spending the rest of our lives together?”

The words rang through Tony, the purest notes singing through his blood. He felt overwhelmed by wonderment, _happiness_, and he thought this would be the moment where he said something just as amazing back. This was when he should come up with something romantic and poignant, all those words he had planned for the proposal he hadn’t actually managed to make. 

But instead, all Tony did was collapse straight into Steve’s arms. It was a good thing Steve had superserum fast reflexes to catch him immediately. Tony had no pretty words and sweet phrasings in him right now. Gripping him hard around his broad shoulders, Tony rubbed his cheek and face against Steve’s hair, his cheeks, his neck, everywhere, while purring hard, like an engine in full throttle.

“Yes, yes, yes, mine, mine. _Forever_,” Tony purred, pulling back and kissing Steve hard and deep.

Steve squeezed him around the waist, let Tony tip his head back for a longer, deeper kiss. When they parted, Steve’s wet lips were a tempting shade of dark pink, his cheeks beautifully flushed.

“We’re engaged,” Tony said with a happy grin.

“For real this time,” Steve added on, his tail wagging so hard and fast, it was a quick steady beat against the bathroom door. Which reminded Tony…

“Let’s get up, it’s gross that we’re kneeling on the floor,” Tony said, pulling Steve up and fussing. “We’ll have to burn the suits after, there’s no saving them. I can’t believe we knelt down on this floor.”

Steve laughed, the purest sound of happiness echoing in the little bathroom. “I’m sure Chef Mizoguchi cleans his bathroom well.”

“Ugh, do you hear yourself? We just got engaged and you’re already thinking about other men,” Tony said, but he was grinning as well. “Now, quick, put the ring and the scentband on me. I need to make it official before you go running off already.”

Steve pressed another kiss to Tony’s cheek and then carefully slipped the ring onto Tony’s finger. They both pretended not to notice how their hands shook. Tony faced away so Steve could put the dog tags on him. He admired the gleaming ring on his finger, how bright and perfect it was, as Steve drew the leather cord around his neck and did up the metal clasps. Reaching up, Tony touched the cool dog tags that rested an inch or so below the hollow of his collarbones, touched the leather cord which smelled so strongly of Steve that it made Tony giddy to know he was wearing it.

Tony turned around again and leaned into Steve, brushing their cheeks together in sheer happiness. Steve’s wagging tail was a blur from where Tony could see it and he laughed.

There was a knock on the bathroom door before the door opened and Chef Mizoguchi looked in. “Are you both alright?”

“We’re fine, thank you,” Tony said a little primly, pulling away and adjusting his clothing.

“Unfortunately, one of the guests posted what you said on Twitter and now there are journalists outside the front. But you can go out the back way if you want,” Chef Mizoguchi said, a little apologetic.

Steve smiled at him gratefully. “That would be amazing, thank you. I hope the journalists won’t be an inconvenience for you.”

“It’s not a problem. It’s almost closing time now anyway,” Chef Mizoguchi said with an airy shrug.

“Stop flirting with my fiancé,” Tony hissed.

Chef Mizoguchi grinned at Tony. “He’s a handsome man, he can flirt with who he wants.”

Steve’s mouth fell open and Tony spluttered, about to point accusingly at Chef Mizoguchi. But then Chef Mizoguchi let out a chuckle and shook his head. “You should see your face, Mister Stark. You’ve been coming here since you were little more than a kitten, and I gave you the same service when you first came in. Stop being such a possessive cat.”

Tony felt a little chagrined, but not enough to stop himself from winding an arm around Steve’s waist and pulling him close. “We’re going now,” Tony said haughtily.

Chef Mizoguchi smiled. “Next time I’m serving iwashi, I’ll let you know.”

Ooh, raw sardine… Alright, Chef Mizoguchi was in Tony’s good books again.

“Thanks for everything tonight, Chef Mizoguchi,” Steve said, his face still a little flushed.

“Ah, young love,” Chef Mizoguchi said, shaking his head as he led the way out to the back. “The best ingredient to any dinner.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to [MountainRose](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MountainRose/pseuds/MountainRose) for suggesting an omakase for my fic and then sending me videos to watch! It was perfect for what I needed!


	4. Epilogue - Mission Accomplished!

Tony had no idea why he thought he had already proposed to Steve before he actually did so. He should have known that once he proposed to Steve — and yes, there were now ongoing arguments about who actually proposed to whom — it would be impossible to forget it. It came up everywhere, in any context.

Case in point…

“Why did you go to the Shift Immersive cinemas last night?” Clint asked, swiping at his phone as he sat in S.H.I.E.L.D.’s medic van with his sprained foot wrapped and elevated. “You don’t even like those.”

Tony, who had no injuries but was keeping Clint company, frowned and asked, “How did you know we went there last night?”

“It’s all over twitter. _‘The Superfiancés are watching crappy sci-fi horror!’_ has over 500,000 retweets and it was just posted last night. Looks like the public still can’t get enough of the lovey dovey Avengers couple.”

“We aren’t lovey dovey!” Tony protested.

Clint turned the phone so Tony could see his screen and the picture of Steve rubbing a cheek against Tony’s, both their leather cords plainly visible around their necks.

They both wore their rings and scentbands all the time now. Tony had given Steve his own proposal tokens once they had gotten home after dinner at Kisume. The leather cord he had made for Steve was a deep blue in colour, and strung through it were thin polished metals that fell together in geometric interlocked pieces. They were made from bits of metal Tony had recovered from the Iron Man Mark 1, the suit that had kept him alive all those years ago when he had escaped from that dark dank cave. The remnant metal had been cut by Tony and polished into gleaming bright pieces, perfect as a keepsake for Steve to wear.

The ring he had gotten for Steve was a thick silver band with three inset jewels — a larger glowing blue jewel flanked by a sparkling red and amber jewel on each side. There was much speculation that the blue jewel was some kind of magnificent blue diamond, but it was actually the world’s tiniest arc reactor, to power a tracker that would never die. Frankly, the teeny arc reactor probably cost more that any blue diamonds on the market today.

When he had put the ring on Steve’s finger, he had pretended not to notice when Steve had cried.

With the scentbands around their necks, they didn’t need to scent mark as frequently since the leather was made to hold scents for a much longer period of time. But there was the blurry photo taken by someone at the cinema, showing Steve rubbing his cheek enthusiastically against Tony’s while they stood in line to buy their movie tickets.

“That’s Steve being lovey dovey, not me,” Tony said with a sniff.

“You keep telling yourself that. So why did you go to a cinema to watch an immersive movie when you hate those?” Clint asked, annoyingly persistent.

Tony made a face. It was true; he didn’t really like the Shift Immersive type of movies, where you had to remain shifted for most of the movie to fully appreciate the experience of it. They included scents in the theatre and emitted low or high frequency sounds that could only be detected by some shifters, or to instil a subconscious sense of disturbance or excitement. Most of the time, Tony found all the attempts to stimulate the other senses distracted too much from the movie’s content. The only thing he liked about it was that couples and groups usually got a cosy pod to themselves where they could group cuddle.

But _Upgrade_ was a science-fiction horror which Tony had a weakness for because he liked to think of ways he could have used science to defeat whatever horrors were encountered. Steve knew his preference well and had used that to lure him into a couple hours of cuddling in their shifted forms.

Not that Tony would admit to that.

“Steve really wanted to watch _Upgrade_,” Tony said nonchalantly.

Clint didn’t look like he bought it, but he didn’t push it any further. He kept scrolling through the tweets, and then he smirked. “The cashier tweeted that you were both _adorable_ and that Steve kept referring to you as his fiancé.”

Tony made a face. Steve was becoming really ridiculous. Usually, they bought their tickets online — alright, J.A.R.V.I.S. bought their tickets online for them — and they skipped all the queuing, but this time, Steve had insisted they buy it in person, probably just so he could say, “Two tickets for my fiancé and I, please.”

How could Steve be so ridiculous and adorable at the same time?

His thoughts were interrupted when Natasha and Bruce looked into the back of the ambulance.

“Bruce goose, you’re back with us!” Tony said with a smile.

Bruce rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, Hulk didn’t like the smell of the paste and abandoned me to the battlefield pretty quickly.”

Gesturing with a thumb over her shoulder, Natasha said, “Your fiancé is talking to the Trapster, and he’s using the words ‘my fiance’ as many times as possible.”

Tony groaned. “I can’t believe he’s doing this to villains as well. And not even to the A grade villains. It’s to _Paste-Pot Pete_.”

Thor climbed into the van, which made it far too crowded at this point. “You know our foe prefers to be called the Trapster now. We should respect his choice, even though it’s not a very strong name either.”

“And Pete didn’t do too bad this time,” Clint said. “Maybe he’s improving.”

“You’re only saying that because you actually got caught in his glue trap,” Natasha pointed out.

“Hey! I wouldn’t have gotten caught in it if the Hulk hadn’t knocked me off my position and straight into the stupid glue trap,” Clint denied angrily.

Bruce shrugged, not looking terribly apologetic. “The Hulk had to sneeze because of the smell of the paste. It was an accident.”

Clint eyed him suspiciously.

“Much as this conversation is riveting,” Tony said as he got up so that Thor could take his seat instead. “I should go stop Steve from talking about my attempts at proposals that involved the USO outfit and—”

“I don’t think we want to hear that either, Tony,” Bruce interjected with a shake of his head. Clint was already pretending to gag in the background. 

Natasha smirked. “I wouldn’t mind.”

“Nor I,” Thor agreed congenially with a lusty gleam in his eye.

“I’ll tell you both later,” Tony said with a grin as he brushed against Clint’s side and scooted out of the medic van and onto his feet. As he approached Steve, he saw that the police were pulling Paste-Pot Pete away into a police car.

“Get me out of here already, I don’t want to hear any more about his proposal and his fiancé,” Pete was grumbling.

But Steve looked unperturbed by Paste-Pot Pete’s complaints and was already turning towards Tony, smiling. He looked at the nearest police officer.

“Billy, have you met my fiancé?” he asked the older, heavyset police officer.

Tony came to a stop beside Steve and sighed heavily. “Steve, Billy has known me longer than he knows you.”

“He’s not wrong,” Billy said with a laugh. “I’ve even given Mister Stark here a ticket for speeding before you came onto the scene.”

“But now you’ve given Steve more speeding tickets than I have,” Tony said shrewdly, because he knew Steve’s speedster ways.

“You’re not wrong about that either,” Billy agreed again, and Steve rubbed the back of his neck, looking a little abashed. Sure, Steve was embarrassed about speeding tickets but not about his over the top fiancé references.

Before they could continue the chatter, there was a reporter there calling out to them over the police barricade.

“Captain America! Captain America and Iron Fiancé, could I get a statement?” the journalist called out.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t even the first time Tony had heard the phrase, ‘Iron Fiancé’ being used. It was better than some of the journalists who kept harping on about how the Wilder in the Avengers had been tamed by Captain America, but not by a hell lot. 

Tony slid an annoyed sideways glare at Steve. This wasn’t the first time Tony had expressed his displeasure at the moniker Iron Fiancé being a direct result of Steve’s overenthusiastic mentions of the word fiancé.

Steve’s ears drooped a little under Tony’s glare and he looked at Tony with sad blue eyes as he gnawed on his lower lip. Ughhh… Tony knew this had to be on purpose, there was no way that Steve didn’t know what he was doing with those puppy eyes.

But at the same time…did he really care what a bunch of journalists called him? Did he care what they thought? And if he was being totally honest, he did get a thrill sometimes when Steve went on about his fiancé and the proposals. Did he really want to dampen Steve’s sheer happiness over something so small?

Chuffing a little, Tony hooked his arm around Steve’s elbow and tugged him towards the police barricade. When he was nearing it, he told the journalist, “My fiancé and I are ready to take any questions.”

He felt Steve lean against his side, could already feel the steady thump of Steve’s wagging tail. Deciding that he was Tony fucking Stark, and that he could do whatever the hell he wanted, Tony leaned to the side and rubbed a cheek against Steve’s, not even caring that it was probably going to end up on social media somewhere. Let them. He was just making sure everyone knew that Steve belonged to him and he belonged to Steve.

From the way Steve smiled at him in response, he agreed.

THE END 

**Author's Note:**

> This will be the last shifter story in this ‘verse for awhile since I’ve other WIPs to work on first. But I still have some ideas in this universe that needs writing down so it’s not the end yet. :) I hope you enjoy the fluffy silliness!
> 
> If you liked the story, you can also reblog it [here](https://awesomelifechoices.tumblr.com/post/187279217333/mission-proposal-but-now-a-dogs-breakfast). :)


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